W. Tennis Earns 25th Straight NCAA Team Championship Berth
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s tennis team is headed to the NCAA Team Championship for the 25th consecutive time.
Tied for the 10th-longest active streak at the Division I level, the Hurricanes have now made the field in each tournament dating back to 1996.
Ranked No. 20/21 nationally, Miami (14-8, 8-5 ACC) is headed to Orlando, Fla., where it opens play Friday against No. 39/50 FIU in the Round of 64.
In the other first-round matchup at the USTA National Campus, the host school, UCF, takes on Charleston Southern. The Knights are ranked No. 8/9 and seeded No. 9 in the tournament, while Charleston Southern is unranked.
The victors of each contest will square off Saturday for a spot in the Round of 16, which is set for May 16, also at the USTA National Campus.
The Hurricanes, who are in the tournament for the 35th time in its 39-year history, are 54-34 all-time in the event. The 35 appearances are tied for the eighth-most all-time, while the 54 victories rank ninth. They have made the second round in each of their last 18 berths, dating back to head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews’ first season at the helm, and reached the Sweet 16 in 12 of the past 14 tournaments.
Miami boasts a pair of ranked singles players and doubles pairs entering the NCAA Team Championship. Fifth-year senior Estela Perez-Somarriba is the top-ranked individual in the country, while freshman Isbaella Pfennig places No. 10. The duo also checks in together at No. 25 on the doubles list, while second-year freshmen Diana Khodan and Maya Tahan hold the No. 14 position.
FIU (12-1, 3-0 CUSA) has one ranked singles player and one ranked doubles pair. Marina Alcaide places No. 85 in the former list, while Andjela Skrobonja and Komola Umarova hold the No. 80 position in doubles.
UCF (18-4, 3-0 AAC) features two ranked singles players in Valeriya Zeleva and Rebeka Stolmar, who place No. 17 and No. 37, respectively. The Knights do not have any doubles tandems on the ITA list.
Charleston Southern (10-7, 6-0 BSO) does not have any individuals or pairs featured in the ITA rankings heading into the NCAA Team Championship.
Additional information on the matches in Orlando, including start times and live stats links, will be available in the coming days. The complete tournament bracket can be found HERE.
To keep up with the University of Miami women’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.